Most Ring enthusiast will agree that this performance is one of the finest ever, and many rate it the best of all. Wagner recorded in Bayreuth always have a special appeal due to the unique acoustics, which Wagner took into account when composing. His music dramas just seem to sound better there than anywhere else.

This recording caused a commotion when it came out in 1953 due to its palpable excitement in comparison to the relative sedateness of previous recorded performances. Clemens Krauss was an awesome Wagner conductor (and a personal friend of Richard Strauss), but what really sets this recording apart is the cast. Overall, it is arguably the greatest cast assembled for The Ring at Bayreuth in the last 60 years. Although the great bass-baritone Hans Hotter sang Wotan in the Solti Ring years later, here his voice is in far better condition. Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried is also much more youthful. Astrid Varnay was one of the outstanding Brünnhildes of all time. Even small parts are taken by major singers of the era, such as the famed coloratura Rita Streich as the Forest Bird.

A magnificent set, beautifully packaged, including a 24-page booklet with historic photos, a detailed essay by Bob Levine, plot synopsis, track listings, and enriched throughout by beautiful full color illustrations by acclaimed opera artist John Martinez! Absolutely essential to the serious opera lover, especially the Wagnerian!

"... magnificent live production...on balance, the most impressively cast Ring you can get...the mono sound is excellent..." - Rough Guide to Opera

From All Music Guide: The Krauss Ring deserves to be heard by anyone who loves Wagner, but, heretofore the question has always been: which of the three inferior pressings to choose: the inevitably defective GALA pressing, the badly remastered FOYER pressing, or the imperfectly packaged ARCHIPEL pressing? The answer is: none of the above. Instead, choose this one from OPERA D'ORO. Everything about it is first-rate. The packaging is attractive. The essay is informative. The cast lists are complete. The picture discs in plastic sleeves are lovely. And the remastering is, far and away, the best the Krauss Ring has ever had: old, yes, and live, certainly, but transparent and filled with color and light. For those who love Wagner owes it to themselves to hear this set." - All Music Guide

14 CDs - Flac + cue + scans - Megaupload

Well, for some strange reasons this "project" was very difficult.
The 3rd upload from another PC rrrruns.
Finally I can share this FAB Ring :-)

Hi,thank you for the uploading! Just wonder did you ever have the chance to compare this set and the (kind of) newly published ORFEO set? They claimed that the master tapes from BR are used for transformation, however, someone said ORFEO used too many filter.

I have both the Orfeo and the Opera D'oro editions. The Orfeo has some slight occasional defects from the master tapes, and to my ears is not heavily processed and captures the sound of the festspielhaus extremely well. The Opera D'oro is a little cleaner sounding and perhaps little bit more 'remastered' but both are worth having.

I can't thank you enough. As someone who knew the Ring only from Solti and Karajan, I had always respected it. Having listened to this Krauss cycle in rapt astonishment over four days, I can now say for the first time that I love it as much as I respect it. What a wonderful performance!

Two of the files don't appear to have uploaded to FileServe correctly:ringkra.part09.rar (http://www.fileserve.com/file/2kpCtXt) is only 8.20 MB &ringkra.part19.rar (http://www.fileserve.com/file/FMTNt5T ) is only 13.41 MBas opposed to the 85.83 MB of their Megaupload counterparts

Would you be able to reupload now that MU is dead? I've lost all my music files and am in the process of replacing everything. Cannot live without my 1953 Ring! I've been stuck with the Solti recording and it just isn't the same.